This intention relates generally to bath waste plumbing equipment, and more particularly retention of waste water outlet covers to terminals or outlets of plumbing fittings, as well as provision and use of caps for pressure testing of plumbing lines leading to such outlets.
There is continual need for improvements in such bath waste plumbing equipment, facilitating ease of application of such outlet covers to plumbing terminals as at bath or shower walls and removal of such covers; and there is need for equipment facilitating pressure testing of such plumbing lines leading to such terminals. No prior equipment of which we are aware incorporates the novel and highly useful cover and mounting structure of the present invention, or its functioning and improved results obtained.
It is a major object of the invention to provide highly useful improvements in plumbing equipment as referred to above. Basically, the invention is incorporated in a retention system for handling and mounting a cover cap to a plumbing fitting having a tubular terminal that projects at an opening through a wall, such as a bath or shower wall, and comprises:
a) a retainer ring fitting on the tubular terminal and tightenable toward the bath or shower wall,
b) a series of retention cams on said ring and spaced about a longitudinal axis defined by the ring, there being gaps between successive cams, and there being retention shoulders on the cams,
c) said retention shoulders facing in directions toward said wall, for retaining holders on the cover cap, after such holders have been passed longitudinally through said gaps, and after the cap has then been rotated to cause the holders to slidable engage the cams and become wedged against said retention shoulders.
It is another object to provide such a retainer ring having thread connection to the tubular terminal; and in this regard, the retainer ring may have wrench flats spaced axially from a plane defined by the retention cams on the ring.
A further object is to provide such a cap configured for attachment to the cams, which are receivable within the cap.
Yet another object is to provide a cap skirt carrying the holders positioned to be passed longitudinally forwardly through the gaps between circularly successive cams on the ring, the cap then being rotatable to cause the holders to slidably engage the cams and become wedged against retention shoulders on the cams. Such holders may comprise lips at the edge of the cap skirt, whereby the retained skirt may fit snugly against the wall at locations about the wall opening.
A further object is to provide a pressure test cap that is thread connected to the plumbing tubular terminal, and an annular seal carried by the pressure test cap in sealing engagement with an end face defined by said tubular terminal.
The method of pressure testing a plumbing fitting having a tubular terminal that projects at an opening through a wall includes the steps:
i) providing and rotatably connecting a pressure test cap to said terminal to terminal, thereby to seal off the tubular terminal,
ii) applying internal fluid pressure to the fitting to determine if any fitting leakage exists,
iii) thereafter rotatably removing the pressure test cap from the terminal, and
iv) providing and rotatably connecting a cover cap onto that tubular terminal, to allow fluid leakage through the cover cap as during bath or shower usage.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention, as well as the details of an illustrative embodiment, will be more fully understood from the following specification and drawings, in which: